


The Sweetest Dream Will Never Do

by Politzania



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: B.A.R.F. | Binarily Augmented Retro Framing, Babyfic, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Found Family, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-03
Updated: 2018-08-03
Packaged: 2019-06-21 03:48:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15548937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Politzania/pseuds/Politzania
Summary: Tony and Pepper welcome their baby girl into the world;   Harley and Peter join in to celebrate with them.





	The Sweetest Dream Will Never Do

**Author's Note:**

> Name of Piece: The Sweetest Dream Will Never Do  
> Square Filled: R3 - Character Death  
> Rating: General  
> Warnings: Domestic Fluff with an Angsty ending  
> Summary: Tony and Pepper welcome their baby girl into the world; Harley and Peter are there to celebrate with them.

“Hello, gorgeous,” Tony called out softly as he entered the hospital room. 

Pepper’s smile was a little bleary, but no less sweet. “Surely you’re not talking to me.”

“Of course I am, and don’t call me Shirley.” Despite being tired and pale, her hair still damp with sweat, Pepper was the most beautiful girl in the world to Tony. Erase and correct: the second most beautiful girl in the world. 

“Hi, pumpkin.” Tony leaned down to gaze fondly at Morgan Elizabeth Potts-Stark (or was it Stark-Potts? He couldn’t remember what they’d decided to put on her birth certificate), sleeping soundly in her mother’s arms. “Did you miss me?” 

Tony had stepped out while they were cleaning Morgan up and helping Pepper get situated after an intense, but thankfully unremarkable labor to send out some updates; there hadn’t been time to let anyone know beforehand. Tony hadn’t even waited for Happy, but had driven Pepper to the hospital himself. 

His quick note -- sent to friends and family -- said that everything had gone just fine, and both mother and baby (seven pounds, eleven ounces and 21 inches long) were healthy. He assumed Stark Industries’ PR team had the press release ready to go, and were just waiting to slot in the date and time and other vital statistics. 

“Can you believe we did this?” Tony murmured. “We made a baby!” 

“‘We’?” Pepper asked archly. “I believe I did the majority of the heavy lifting this time around. You’re lucky to be getting twelve percent of the credit.” 

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?” he sighed in reply, as her eyes twinkled in amusement. “Elephants have nothing on you when it comes to remembering.” He leaned in again, this time to place a tender kiss on Pepper’s cheek. “Has she eaten yet?” 

Pepper made a face. “We’re working on it.” But before she could go into any more detail, there was a knock at the door. Tony tore his eyes away from his wife and daughter to see a familiar young man peeking around the doorjamb. “Can I come in?” 

“Of course, Harley!” Pepper replied, tilting her head invitingly. 

“Shouldn’t you be in class, young man?” Tony asked with a mock-stern expression. 

Harley shrugged, then pulled up one of the visitor’s chairs to sit in it backwards. “My schedule’s clear til noon on Wednesdays, so when I got the news, I caught the first city bus headed this direction.” He looked around the room and added, “I’m surprised I beat Happy here.” 

“He probably stopped to get a balloon bouquet or something equally ridiculous,” Tony commented. 

“Says the man who bought me a ten foot stuffed bunny rabbit.” 

Tony made a dramatic shushing gesture. “Ixnay on the abbit-ray, Pep. Now Harls will want one!” Her girlish giggles, combined with the new voices must have woken Morgan up. She stretched out one arm, tiny fingers spread wide like a starfish. Tony held out a finger for her to grab on to, and stroked the back of her hand gently with his thumb. “Sorry, sweetie. Didn’t mean to startle you.” 

Morgan blinked her big, blue, slightly-out-of-focus eyes at him and Tony’s heart was no longer his own. To be honest, he’d lost it to her the moment he first heard her heartbeat in the doctor’s office. He couldn’t fathom at the time how he could fall in love with someone he hadn’t even met, but he did, helplessly and hopelessly. 

“Here,” Pepper said, shifting Morgan around. “Take your daughter over to say hello to her big brother.” Tony panicked for a moment, afraid of taking responsibility for such precious cargo, but Pepper’s calm, unhurried instructions, reminding him to support the baby’s head as she transferred the oh-so-slight-weight of their child into his arms reassured him. He could do this. 

Morgan looked up at him solemnly for a moment, then a brief smile crossed her features. He’d been told that this was a simple reflex, that babies were simply trying out their muscles, but he couldn’t help but be charmed. Tony knew it would only be a matter of time until his daughter (his daughter!) wound him around around her little finger. 

Harley in turn, had looked both embarrassed and pleased at Pepper’s comment. While of course they hadn’t formally adopted him -- Mrs. Keener was still very much in the picture -- Harley had become somewhat of a fixture in their lives. Tony had told Pepper all about his Appalachian adventures while they were both recuperating and the kid whose garage he'd broken into had featured prominently. Tony stayed in touch with Harley, and when the kid started looking at colleges, he encouraged him to come out east. To Tony’s chagrin, he chose NYU over MIT, but he seemed happy, so he couldn’t say much.

As Tony took a step towards Harley, the phone in his pocket buzzed. “Couldja get that, kid? My hands are kinda full.” 

Harley fished the phone out and looked at the screen. “Hey, it’s Peter - he wants to do a videocall.” He pressed the accept button. “Pete - what’s up?” 

“I got Mr. Stark’s text - so Morgan’s finally here? Lemme see!” Peter’s normal enthusiasm was cranked to eleven; he’d been almost as thrilled to hear that Pepper was expecting as Tony had been. 

“Cool your jets, spiderling,” Tony said dryly, as Harley turned the phone toward them. Peter had a big grin on his face... and was that a cigar? “First off, I’m supposed to be the one handing out the stogies. Second of all, I’m telling Aunt May.” 

Peter took a big bite off one end of the cigar. “It’s just chocolate,” came his muffled reply. Harley snickered while Pepper rolled her eyes fondly. “So, who won the pool, Harls?” 

Harley shot his pseudo-sibling a dirty look, then gave Pepper a sheepish shrug. “I think Tony did.” 

And now it was Pepper’s turn to glare. “You bet on when I’d go into labor, Tony?” 

“A little bit?” He gave her his most winning smile. “Just for fun?” He held Morgan up -- partly as a shield and partly as a distraction -- and Pepper’s glare softened.

“Already ganging up on me, I see. Fine. Harley? Peter? You’re mine now.“ 

“Team Pepper!” Peter hooted while Harley sauntered over to stand beside Pepper’s hospital bed. 

Morgan’s face wrinkled up and a whimper escaped her tiny, perfect lips. “Uh-oh,” Tony commented. “Looks like she wants the family to stay together.” He carefully handed her back to Pepper, running a hand over Morgan’s fuzzy head. 

“She’s probably hungry,” Pepper sighed. “I’m going to page the lactation counselor.” 

Harley’s eyebrows shot up, “Oh - then, well, I better...” He nodded towards the door. 

“You don’t have to. Breastfeeding is a perfectly normal process, there’s nothing shameful about it.” Pepper’s surprisingly stern reply cowed the young man, and he sat back down. 

“Unfortunately,” Tony said, “I do have to be going. Daddy’s got a lot of work to do, sweetheart.” He brushed a kiss against Morgan’s plump cheek, then kissed his wife a little more firmly. He clapped a hand on Harley’s shoulder and tossed a salute to Peter, who was still on the line. “Pete, Harls, take care of my girls.” 

\------------------------- 

Tony closed the door behind him and looked down the quiet, empty corridor. “Friday, save and close program.” He took off the B.A.R.F. glasses and tucked them into a pocket as his comm crackled to life. 

“Stark, we’re ready.” It was Nebula; she’d taken charge of retrofitting the Milano for their jaunt through the multiverse, with instructions from Wong and Shuri. 

“Okay,” Tony replied grimly. “Let’s go find that one in fourteen million six hundred and five chance to win against that big purple bastard. I’ve got someone waiting for me.”

**Author's Note:**

> So - maybe not as angsty as I'd originally thought, but I'm still sorry.


End file.
